A Digest of Published Opinions About the Teaching of Music Reading in the Elementary School

Throughout the history of public school music in the United States, one of the problems which has continually been in the foreground is that of music reading, It is primarily a problem for the elementary school as that is the place where reading must begin in order for the children's interest and ability to be balanced. The elementary school is the focal point for the teaching of all skills and tools in learning. Certainly, reading is one of the major tools in the process of musical learning.\ud In many cases the ability of the students to read music has been the basic criterion of the entire music program. Davison states that the aim and end of a large percentage of instruction has for so long been to train students to sing music at sight that it has grown to be a fetish. While such a standard as that is an over-emphasis of reading, most music educators will agree that the place of music reading in the elementary school is of utmost importance. The differences of opinions lie not so much in the goals to be reached as in the methods of reaching them. The purpose of this study is not to weigh these various methods as to their usefulness. It is rather to survey as many publications as possible concerning the teaching of music reading in the elementary school and to make a digest of the opinions found in them. In agreement with Mursell's statement that anything can be taught effectively in a considerable number of ways,2 it is the writer's belief that there is no one best method for teaching music reading. The desired outcome of this study is to present an adequate digest of the material published about various methods in order that these lines of thought may be followed as they are needed to fit individual teaching problems